The only way to claim these expenses would be to amend the prior year returns to add the costs as educational expenses.
They are not deductible in 2017 for the simple reason that you did not pay tax on these amounts when you received them. They are particularly not deductible as educational expenses because you were not currently enrolled and no money was paid to the educational institution.
If you did pay tax because the employer included them in Box 1 of your W-2s from those periods, they would be deductible as a claim of right in your personal itemized expenses. In that unlikely case, please post back and I'll add information on how to do that.
